Pioneer Elite PRO-200 rear-projection TV Page 3

Conclusions Given the legacy of Pioneer Elite rear-projection design and engineering, I expected a decidedly high-end, cinema-oriented television as the company's last shot at drawing consumers to NTSC in the predawn of digital broadcasting. Instead, the PRO-200 seems to have been cobbled together by a marketing committee.

In its outward appearance (and certainly at its price), the Pioneer PRO-200 is a grand, formidable television. While John Gannon's wry spin on that monumentality might smack of hyperbole, his comment struck my ears with a ring of ingenuous conviction—and disappointment—from a technician who knows and generally admires Pioneer big-screen televisions.

But Pioneer has made its own bed here. I'm just not sure what video enthusiast would want to sleep in it.

In the end, Gannon was able to coax a satisfactory picture from the PRO-200, but the compromises in aspect ratio—compounded by those inescapable zooming effects—rendered the television unsuitable to this viewer. Could I recommend, at the very onset of the digital era, that you spend nearly $6000 on the PRO-200? Absolutely not. Monumentally not.